


Muscle Memory

by WiseOwlReader2018



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: DSA, Gen, Socialist Steve Rogers, Steve loves making noise, Steve's will was greater than the serum, anti imperialism, fuck third way democrats, rage against neo-liberalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiseOwlReader2018/pseuds/WiseOwlReader2018
Summary: To every American, Steven Rogers is the Golden Boy, a boy scout and an unwavering patriot. For years, he's been propaganda. Whether it was Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, his image was inextricably tied with American imperialism and the military industrial complex. What everyone forgets and so few know is that Steven Rogers was fighting long before he got the serum in his veins. 1930's New York was a bastion of labor unions, leftist politics, spirited debates & an air of anti-fascism.When he returns, he is not pleased with the gulf between the rich and poor, the systemic grid-lock, the rampant corporatism and consolidation of monopolies that shuts out the pain and misery of the poorest in America.Steven Grant Rogers falls into his muscle memory as he did at his Ma's side, marching for unions against a system that exists solely to enrich the powerful.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Muscle Memory

“Sir, Mr. Rogers is trending.”

Tony came out of his engineering binge, pulling his head out of the 1930’s Bentley he was restoring, smudges of oil on his face and peppering his hands. 

“Huh.”

Jarvis brought up the screen. His lips twitched at the Twitter-feed, wiping his hands with the rag.

#capisacommie?!  
#CaptainSocialist  
#CaptainCommunist

Twitter. It was more a dumpster fire than usual.

“Op-ed, eh?”

Tony read through, scanning quickly. Thus, he summed it up as: I am ashamed and disappointed that the Democratic party has abandoned it’s legacy of the Great Society and FDR’s bill of economic rights. The Republican party further disappoints, refusing to live up to the conservation & anti-monopoly legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. 

That was the gist of it. 

He sighed.

“Better let Rachel know. PR’s gonna have a fun time tonight.” 

Tony shook his head, knowing this wasn’t the end.

-

Steve’s twitter feed then popped up. 

He took a selfie with two membership cards in hand: one for the Democratic Socialists of America and the International Workers of the World. Behind him was a red banner emblazoned: Democratic Socialists of America Yearly Convention 2012!

Shining on his jacket lapel was a pin, a rose and hands entwined. He was all but beaming with joy.

Tony grinned. Then he reminded Jarvis to send a bottle of wine and a gift basket with chocolates and fruits to Rachel. 

She really needed it these days.

-

“You have declared yourself, Captain, a communist?!”

“Socialist, Mr. Reilly. My Ma met my Pa whilst campaigning for Eugene Debs. He’s my personal hero.”

If the op-ed had been a spark, then the Fox News segment was a bonfire; the battle-ax to the face expression on Bill O’Reilly’s face was replayed worldwide on HuffPost & Washington Post.

That Steve sounded so goddamned earnest about it was cream on top of the sundae.

-

The rest of the world watched as the US frothed in rage, struggling to process that their capitalistic hero was in fact a card-carrying socialist.

Numerous countries expressed polite concern to one another, but laughter was in their eyes. In various newsreels, American diplomats had smiles but pinched expressions, fingers tightening on the podium with banal platitudes.

Down in South America, Chile all but grinned. Mexico could feel the smugness radiating.

Venezuela was shaking with mirth, preening to the point that the State Department was flushed with anger.

-

As if to throw a match on the oil-slickened deck of the Hindenburg, Steve Rogers met with Noam Chomsky.

It was a lengthy forum on US hegemony & how the history of imperialism tied in with the current political atmosphere. Then it dipped into Steve’s life and his political views.

“Look, I wasn’t Captain America back then. I was a sickened artist with the Public Works Administration,” Steve said, “I organized rallies and strikes, I was friends with anarchists, Trotskyists and Leninists, all of whom I debated. A lot of them went to fight the fascist government of Spain during the civil war.”

Here, he nodded once to Chomsky who seemed to have a slight smile on his face. “Mr. Chomsky’s beliefs aren’t anti-American. They’re an expression of Anti-Imperialism & anti-fascism. I can say after such a long career, he stands taller than I do.”

The crowd went bananas then, screaming and cheering.

Tony could hear the sobs of Foggy Bottom diplomats and the hyperventilating of Senate, House and White House majority and minority leaders.

It was music to his ears.

-

Steve, it seemed, was everywhere. 

He attended rallies supporting Amazon warehouse workers in Seattle, giving speeches for teachers in Kentucky, protesting coal barons to help save miners pensions, singing his praises of unions in blistering op-eds. He grew combative on CNN and MSNBC, blasting anchors like Chris Hayes for failing the American public, for not providing critical analysis of their politics. His articles on the Vietnam War were utterly scatching – nothing more than an attempt to project and expand American military power. Challenging him on this was a bad idea as he brought up the numerous victims and peasents slaughtered by napalm and bombings.

Then he was back in DC, railing against foreign intervention alongside veterans like Mike Prysner. He sat down for a discussion on civics with Glenn Greenwald, eventually trailed into mass surveillance, declaring his support for patriots like Edward Snowden, who sacrificed his comfort & position to throw a light on civil abuses. His support of Julian Assange for exposing American diplomatic cables to show the cravenness, the utter rot that infested his home’s politics.

-

Then the healthcare debate. 

Oh god, the healthcare debate.

-

It was the sort of verbal evisceration Tony lived for.

“The last time I checked,” Steve began, Ben Shapiro swallowed thickly at his icy and calm tone, “America touted itself as infinite possibility. If Vice President Biden says as such and turns around, saying Medicare-for-All is pie in the sky, what does that say about the government that allows sixty eight thousand of my fellow Americans to die every year?”

“There should never be a price tag on healthcare which is a human right. Every American in this country should have the chance to experience life, to be able to unlock their potential & settled into a dignified retirement. That both parties have allowed the working class to fall into such poverty and pain through economic policy in benefit of the rich is shameful.”

“It is nothing short of a crime against humanity.”

-

“Steve’s making a lot of noise.”

Tony hummed. He had grown bored listening to the panicked voicemails coming in from various political figures. The friendliness broke down at some point and came off pathetically desperate.

Let’s see: Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell. He deleted the voicemails, tapping his StarkPad.

“That he is, Sour Patch. Here I thought I was a handful.”

Rhodes snorted. “You don’t say.” He said dryly.

Glancing at the TV, he could see the strained look on President Obama’s face, a reporter having asked him about Steve’s politics. He gave the polite ‘Americans can express whatever view they wish…’ To anyone else, they could see the masking of deep frustration.

The status quo that reined was being shaken apart. 

Even on Fox News, Steve was winning – Captain America was a precious figure in the heartland. He was the working classes’ King Arthur, an American mythos. For years, the media ecosystem locked the concerns of everyday people out of politics. Both parties had steadily drifted away, slowly being chipped at by corporate power in the early seventies.

The polls climbed and climbed, screaming for change. When President Obama had passed on bailing out Main Street, he hadn’t been surprised, only grimacing. That was the crucible moment – a scarring trauma where no one had gone to jail for crashing the global economy, ruining the lives of working Americans. Tony had been thankful that few furloughs happened on his payroll. For all his father’s dickishness, he honored the oath to take a pay cut like he did.

Obie and he had a screaming match then, to announce stock buybacks and cut staff. He pulled out every last favor to protect the people in his company and ensure their insurance along with pay wouldn’t be affected. The storm had gone through them, but the scars remained. So many in numerous departments had almost lost their livelihood.

“I dunno,” he said, tilting his head as the announcement blared blow the Presidents press conference, “it’s kinda fun.”

Steven Rogers announces Healthcare Rally featuring Rage Against The Machine, Reverend Barber & Michael Moore.

“Couldn’t have asked for a better Smedley Butler.” Rhodes quipped.

Tony gestured to the seat next to him on the couch. Steve didn’t need help for a fight like this. 

He’d been doing it for most of his life anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> This came out of a burst of creativity. A blog post had argued that Steve would be a firm leftist. He would have been caught up in the time of New Deal politics, listening to FDR's fireside chats. Mayor La Guardia was a powerful figure at the time during the 20's-30's, bolstering unions & fighting corporate power structures. I can easily see that he would have been an artist drawing posters against anti-fascism. He'd have been pro-worker, given his parents were Irish immigrants and working class.
> 
> It's also an expression of frustration and bitterness on my part. I'm a former Democrat, classical liberalism and now I've become decidedly leftist - libertarian socialist. I used to be starry-eyed about Obama, but looking back on the Libya invasion, drone attacks and hospital bombings, he wasn't all that different from a conventional politician. Democrats are equally the problem as much as Republicans these days. They delay and shut out progressive voices that advocate for real change rather than tinkering around the edges.


End file.
